Euronews

George RR Martin, author of the Game of Thrones book series, has written to a 13-year-old fan promising to donate 10,000 USD of his own money to a wolf sanctuary after receiving a touching letter from the boy.

Martin was offering two lucky – and presumably wealthy – fans the opportunity to be ‘killed’ in his latest book “Song of Ice and Fire.” A 20,000 USD donation to the animal charity was all it took to be killed off in glorious, “grisly” fashion, as promised on the author’s site.

For the young fan in the UK it was the opportunity of a lifetime. But, not having 20k to spare, he decided to donate all his pocket money and write a touching letter to the world famous writer instead. Here is a transcript of his heart-warming message:

Dear Mr. Martin,

My Dad showed me an article in The Time on the 9th of June, about being a character in the Game of Thrones and saving wolves. Wolves are my most favourite (sic) animal and when I grow up I want to be a wolf conservationist. Although I’m not allowed to watch certain bits of Game of Thrones I do enjoy playing Skyrium and acting out being a warrior with my Bokken. I haven’t got $20,000 but I would be willing to donate my pocket money saving Wild Spirit wolf Sanctuary. Maybe you have heard of the Wolf conservation Trust near Redding (sic) in the UK, one of my favourite places. I would love to be considered as a character in your next book and thank you for reading my letter. A gruesome grizzly death is all I ask for.

Yours sincerely,
Jack B

Martin personally responded to the letter saying he was inspired by Jack’s generous gift and had donated $10,000 of his own money in Jack’s name to the “majestic and too often stigmatized animals”.

Dear Jack,

Thank you so much for your heartfelt, touching note.

I’ve heard that you donated all your £153 pocket money savings to my Prizeo fundraiser on behalf of the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary. I cannot tell you how much that moved me. It pleases me no end to know that my novels, and the TV series based on them, have inspired readers as young as yourself to rally to the support of these majestic and too often stigmatized animals.

Alas, I cannot promise you a grisly death in THE WIND OF WINTER. Those spots have already been filled by some very generous donors, and there’s a limit to how many people even I can kill.

However, inspired by your example, my friends at Prizeo and I would love to follow your lead with a $10,000 in your name to the UK Wolf Conservation Trust. That’s a wonderful organization that I've heard much about, and they are lucky to count people like you as supporters.

I wish you the best of luck in your future career as a wolf conservationist, and hope that you inspire many others to follow your lead.

Yours,

GRRM

It seems Jack’s dream of being a character in the world-renowned book series will have to wait, as even the most passionate of fans can’t outweigh the power of “generous donors.” However, receiving a personalised letter from his idol will surely have been somewhat of a consolation.